FURIOUS with the negligent, incompetent NHS

Lyndsay_21

OMG i didnt realise some hospitals where so bad. I think we are lucky where i am we have a 5 star nhs hospital, my dad has been in recently after having a heart bypass and he was in st georges in tooting and they where very good too!!

I dont understand how if surely most hospitals get the same kind of funding some can be brilliant and some crap?

KittyKate

I think they've frozen spending on Pontefract hosptial as they're knocking it down in 2010. Which is why it smells of wee!

Noctu

My OH had to go in for an operation on his nose - he's type 1 diabetic, and in his pre op assessment with the matron he was told he'd be first that day for surgery (to get him back on his insulin regime ASAP) - on the day of surgery, the consultant waltzed in late.. didn't bother to check his notes, and put him down as last on the list to be operated on.

Apparently once the list has been made they can't amend it, and my OH had multiple hypers & hypos during the day whilst waiting for the op.

When another doctor came in to insert his canula, he f**ked it up and tore through his skin, there was blood all over the floor. Doctor just said "oops, don't let the nurses know I've done that, haha!" OH starts going into shock, sweating profusely (pouring off him) and feeling very sick, white as a sheet - nurse walks in at that point (doctor left), and stood at the other side of the room watching him - no attempt to make sure he was ok.

Insulin drip inserted into OH's hand for the operation, nurses did not know how to operate the drip - the line had an air bubble (yes - I saw it) and it didn't end up working due to this anyway. OH's blood sugar reading was at 27 - supposed to be between 4 and 8!!!!

Now, I have nothing against nurses and they work very hard - but the majority of nurses on the ward had no idea how to deal with diabetes. They also sat around chatting as I witnessed on several occasions.

zztopgirl

My dh was in hospital last year, the nurses forgot to give him his medication, i had to sort it all out myself. One of the care workers swore constantly in front of the patients. The place was so dirty and dusty, dried blood all over the floor. They couldnt discharge him until the monday at the very least, and i demanded he be allowed home, they wanted to keep him in an extra few days.

He had a serious accident in 2004, its too upsetting to talk about, but the nurses on itu were amazing. Its the nurses on general wards that let the place down. The whole hospital should be run like the itu(not the care, just clean and well run).

He recovered and was sent home from hospital, i was given no advice on how to care for him and guess what-the nurses forgot to give him his medication to take home with him. They also let visitors in all the time, outside of visiting hours, and the patients couldnt even eat their meals properly or anything. Dh kept trying to feed other people with his meal, it was distressing but the nurses didnt care. Just remembered one thing that shocked me, they let him take a shower on his own, 3 days after he had woke from a coma.:eek: Thank G-d he was ok. The staff sent him home saying he was fully self caring and able to walk for miles, actually he couldnt even make himself a drink or walk a few yards.

PINGA14

I was given the wrong dialysis solution to use which resulted in me nearly dying through potassium poisoning and lack of bicarbonate in my blood.

I have also witnessed a patient with mrsa being discharged from a side room and a patient being put straight into the same room without it being cleaned first. I over heard the nurses saying that the room would be disinfected the following day, it never was.

I myself was put in a side room that hadn't been cleaned and the toilet was a disgrace.

user55

As a nurse I feel mortified at all the terrible experiences I am reading here.

I am lucky enough to work in a critical care area, so we have the equipment and staff we need. And I would never dream of not doing something that needed done because "it isn't my job" - as far as I'm concerned my job is to do whatever needs to be done!

However I am currently experiencing my own NHS nightmare with my mother so even staff are not immune!

Penelope_Penguin

KittyKate wrote: »

I have had the good sense this year to take on bupa cover with my works healthcare scheme, it's not cheap, but it covers a lot of care, and I cannot bear the thought of my dad going back to that hospital (pontefract for those who wish to know!). The mistakes on mum were in Pontefract as well, luckily her follow up care is in Leeds, (Jimmys) which is a much nicer place.

I hope that the wave of negligence is over (but I think I'm hoping against hope here).

Thank's for that information. I declined to have my children in Pontefract (12 and 14 years ago) due to its reputation for filthy conditions. I've been reliably informed just last week that big improvements have been made. Not so reliable, as it turns out

Hope your parents improve soon, KittyKate.

Desperate_Housewife_2-2

Hi Kittykate,

I am so sorry to hear about the way your parents have been treated, I feel sick to my stomach and had to post. These are some of the reasons I left the NHS after 20+ years. I had problems with the care my parents (both died now) received.

Please, please write a letter to the chief executive, chief nurse and patients representative of the hospital and take legal advice. I am a nurse and the profession is stretched but there is no need for nurses to be sat around reading magazines when patients need attention. I have cleaned wards as part of my nurse duties so there is no excuse for nurses not to do it. It is part of infection control/prevention measure, in fact years ago we spent entire weekends cleaning as student nurses!

I am so sorry and hope your parents get the care they deserve. Please try and get some support if you can.

Thinking of you
Desperate Housewife

tryharder_3

I don't think the funding should be an issue anymore, so much money has been pumped in, it is no longer a valid excuse.

It is the staffs fault, they are part of the system, and if the system is crumbling, they should change it. Being a small cog is no excuse, there are some big cogs in there who could change things in a week, but they choose not to. It may be no different from any other organisation of this size, good staff, bad staff, couldn't care less staff, but this is life and death, so there is no excuse for malaise or incompetence.

The politicians are spinning again today on cancer care (have they done the deep clean yet, or was that just another headline grabber?), it is a shame they don't have the guts to stop measuring pointless targets, and measure and trumpet the important ones instead.

How many people die or suffer needlessly in the nhs per year. How long and how many hospital visits does it take to get an accurate diagnosis and successful treatment. Lets hear them spin those figures on question time. All you hear about is waiting lists, a figure that is very easy to manipulate.

Targets for treating someone with cancer within 2 weeks is pointless if it takes 18 months or more to get that diagnosis in the first place, and once the 2 week target is met, you get put on the back burner.

Tony Blair got his heart condition diagnosis and treatment pretty quickly, and they even painted the place before he turned up, not something they do for the rest of us. If he had to go through the system like the general population, then things might be much better, and he would have a legacy to be proud of. It didn't happen.

If they had more people like user55, then I am sure the "system" would be much better, the starting point is to find more staff who give a damn, whatever their pay level.

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I do hope your parent make a speedy recovery KittyKate, dealing with your parents illness is one of the hardest things you have to do in life, especially if you are young.

aeuerby

I can't really comment on the nursing staff on Dads ward - I live in Doncaster so only got over once a week and visiting was for 2 hours only, so didn't see much of them.
My dad did say though that he had never even seen the consultant he was under in the whole 3 weeks he was there.

He kept telling the doctors he was having trouble eating and they said it will get better.
For over 5 weeks he's hardly eaten a thing.
He told the doctors he was lethargic, could hardly move - walking was such a struggle.
Their answer was it'll get better.

He went to his gp yesterday who thinks he's severely anemic and is doing blood tests. How could the staff in the hospital not pick up on this?
It's seems logical not eating = lack of essential vitamins and minerals amongst other things!

I have to say though, my mum was on ITU in the Leeds General Infirmary (where Richard Hammond was taken!) and the staff were fantastic, the hospital was very clean.

KittyKate - the new oncology building is being built slap bang opposite the block my dad was in! It's looking good and hopefully should be nice and clean for your mum - parking is a big issue though I am told!